In this interview, Anton Shelupanov of the Centre for Justice Innovation speaks with Grant Sugden, the Operational Manager of the Charity Organization Circle, about working with women offenders in the criminal justice system. Circle has been based at the Scottish women’s prison Cornton Vale in 2007, and recently expanded to HMP Addiewell to work with prisoners who are fathers.
How did you get started at Cornton Vale?
Our project was established because families with drug and alcohol problems were not getting the right support. It started with a small grant to do some research in Cornton Vale prison in 2007. We found that what was needed for the women returning from that prison into the community was a through-care service which took a family support approach.
The idea was simple – place a worker inside the prison to identify women who had children on the outside, and support their transition out of custody. The result was impressive – none of the women we worked with returned to prison within the first year.
The findings were used to expand the work further – to a male prison, HMP Addiewell – to prisoners who were fathers. This was less effective, because the project was less immersed into the establishment.
We face many challenging issues such as domestic abuse. We support our clients as much as possible, in and out of custody – this sometimes means attending court to make sure they don’t return to custody.
What challenges did you face in your early days?
The first year was very challenging. We had to establish the project very quickly and there was a quick turnaround of prisoners. We met with some resistance further down the line from staff, and faced a lot of obstacles, even basic things like securing desk space, but we persevered. The prison was sceptical – many projects turn up promising a lot and then disappear after a few months, so prison staff don’t expect much.
A major factor in success was identifying women who had children on the outside with as much time as possible before they left, and helping them develop a more positive relationship with their children whilst dealing with drugs and alcohol issues, and not giving up on the relationship if they returned to prison.
The real key to success was the social worker at the centre of the project, Marina. She was not intimidated by the challenges or by individuals and was tenacious in establishing the project. We supported her through encouragement and regular contact. We’d established a steering group and tried different things. For example, it was important to have pre-release meetings.
How do you publicize the success of your project?
One of our clients is now speaking at conferences about our work, telling people her story. She had a good job, but also an alcohol problem and went to prison for embezzling from her employer. She has an 8 year old son who was being cared for by his father. She came out of prison and we supported her through 9 months of alcohol counselling, and ensuring she had supervised contact with her son. She’s now not drunk for two years and turned her life around.
What have you learned about creating a good environment for innovation?
For practitioners trying to start a new initiative, the long-term relationship with the funder is important. For example our funder has been able to support a member of staff here to obtain an MBA in innovation processes. Statutory funders should be hands off or open and flexible to changing circumstances for pilot projects to succeed and grow.
We see offenders as people and take a whole family approach. It’s about developing a relationship with the individual and their family and going the extra mile.
What does the future of your project look like?
The future outlook for our work is positive. We are poised to deliver services across the whole of Scotland, and hoping to influence the recently established Commission on Women in Prison. We want to see better and more alternatives to custody and community sentences which are more family-focused.
The way practitioners can influence government is through organisations joining up and lobbying the government with a collective voice. Pro-Bono Economics is carrying out an economic impact assessment of our work which will hopefully strengthen the case further.